I shook my head again.
“We’ll find her.”
We would. To do so, I needed to stay focused.
Swinging the light around the office, it was hard to make heads or tails of it all. Jolene sorted through the paperwork to see if she could spot something.
I, on the other hand, felt completely useless. I was having trouble focusing. My mind was whirring a hundred miles a minute with worry for Sarah and Winston.
With a sigh, I sat on the floor cross-legged. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all related to Violet’s murder. The connections were there; I was just having trouble making them all fit. Since nothing was getting done with me sitting there, I shifted to climb to my feet.
The light from my flashlight caught something shiny beneath Belinda’s desk. I couldn’t see what it was but it was definitely sparkling. There was no other broken glass in the office. Mainly, that was out in the front of the store.
“What’s...” On my knees, it was just out of reach. I hunted for something long enough to scoot it close. “Jolene, find me a paper towel or something.”
Jolene disappeared and returned with a handful of brown napkins.
Using one, I grabbed it and rose to my feet to shine my light on it to get a better look.
Jolene peered at it. “Is that what I think it is?”
One perfectly cut heart-shaped diamond.
I tightened my fist around it. “I need my purse. Lock up here.”
Dumping the contents of my purse all over the trunk of Jolene’s car, I found what I was looking for. The card Chief Reed gave me when he first interviewed me at the hospital. It listed the police department phone number, and his cell.
I punched in the numbers and waited for him to pick up while Jolene shoved all the contents of my purse back into it. He barely got out his name when I blurted out, “I know where my sister is and who killed Violet.”
After giving him the address, I looked at Jolene, hesitant to ask her to help.
As if I needed to.
She was already in motion, heading for the driver’s side of the car. “Get in and tell me how to get where we’re going.”
“You already know how to get there.”
Jolene pulled off on the same access road we used to gain access to Violet Pickering’s house to snoop around. We had only just gotten out of the car when the chief’s SUV pulled in behind. I went to meet him and almost stepped off into the ravine.
He caught my arm just before I faceplanted.
“Are you sure this is the place?” He pointed further down the access road. “There’s nothing back there until you get to the power substation.”
“I’m positive. Kevin mentioned he had hunting rights on Violet’s property. I bet that’s his hunting shack on the edge of Violet Pickering’s property. The creek runs right along the north-east corner of the back property line. It’s about a tenth of a mile that way,” and I pointed, “to get to Violet’s property.”
“I don’t want to know how you know that, do I?”
“No.”
“I thought so.” He turned to walk back to his vehicle. “Stay here. I have backup coming.”
“No way,” I said, following him. “That crazy woman has my sister. I’m willing to bet she has Winston, too. She’s already killed someone. She’ll do it again and she’s willing to let Kevin take the fall for it.”
I jogged back to the car and pulled out what I had found at Belinda’s shop. “This proves the killer was there today.”
Chief Reed sighed heavily. He followed me to shine his flashlight on the diamond. “Violet’s killer is the only one who would have the collar and taken the diamonds out, right?”
“And he’s on the run right now.”
“Kevin didn’t kill Violet. I told you that.”
“You told me Winston didn’t identify him. Not exactly evidence I can take to the DA. But he was caught on CCTV in Memphis trying to move some expensive jewelry. And if he has an accomplice, he’s not talking.”
“He is protecting someone.”
Chief Reed glanced down the access road. “And you think she’s in that hunting shack?”
“I’m positive. Almost.”
“And who is she? Naomi, this isn’t a game.”
Off in the distance, I heard a squeaky, high-pitched cry for help.
“You stay back, Mary! Stay away or I’ll be mean to you. Mary will come find me and then you’ll be sorry!”
“Winston!” I started down the road in that direction before I stopped. “Jolene, that’s Winston. We have to go, Chief.”
“Jolene, you stay here and direct the other officers in once they get here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Naomi,” he said gruffly as he pulled me to a stop. “Stay behind me. This is not the time to be a hero,” he said. “Let me take the lead on this. It’s what I do.”
Right. Of course he was right. I pointed in the direction where Jolene and I had seen the hunting shack.
I wasn’t wearing the shoes to be traipsing around in the woods. The recent heavy downpour was still puddled in some areas and my feet made gross squishy sounds as I found every one of them. Branches tore at my face, pulling my hair out of my messy ponytail, but by gosh and by gum I was not about to let the chief get out of my sight.
There was a soft glow coming from the small shack. Winston’s frantic barks were louder now. He was breaking my heart with how scared he sounded.
The chief made a motion to stop and directed me to duck behind a tree. He pulled his gun and crept closer to the shack so he could look in the window. After a moment, he holstered his gun and went to the door. He tugged on what looked like a padlock. A moment’s search turned up a stone and he bashed at it until it broke.
Pulling the door open, he ducked in for a moment.
It was the longest few seconds of my entire life before he stepped into view. “They’re fine,” he said.
I almost stepped into view when someone dressed in all black appeared behind the chief. They held a shovel like a club. He turned just in time to see the swing but didn’t have time to block the blow.
He went down like a house of cards.
Inside the hut, Sarah screamed.
Chapter Fourteen
Belinda stepped behind the door and reappeared with a shotgun.
That put everything into perspective.
It was hard to sit there and wait but I knew better than to reveal myself. There was no dodging a shotgun blast.
She took the chief’s gun and stuffed it in the front of her jeans. “Get out here and help me pull him inside.”
Sarah and Clare stumbled outside, their hands bound at the wrist. Winston was going crazy, still inside the shack. The two of them managed to drag the chief’s unconscious body back into the hut. After looking around, Belinda followed them in and shut the door.
Where were the police?
I couldn’t afford to wait.
Moving slower than I ever have in my entire life, I crept towards the hut, staying out of the line of sight of the window until I was right next to it.
Their voices were muffled but I could still hear them.
“This is your fault, Clare,” Belinda said. She was near hysterics; the edge of her sanity was clear in her voice. “If your aunt hadn’t tried to ruin my life, none of this would have happened.”
“I didn’t do anything, Belinda.” Clare was obviously scared.
“And you know, I didn’t really care that she wanted to keep me from being a part of her stupid Women’s League. But she was going to ruin Kevin, just like all the Dufores do to people they think are beneath them.”
“Is that why you killed Aunt Violet?”
“The old bat deserved to die. Even you have to admit that. She was a hateful old woman who even cut you, her own flesh and blood, out of her will. I wanted to protect him. I loved him. He loved me. Until you ruined that for me as well.”
“Belinda.” That was my sister. “This isn’t the way t
o handle this.”
“You, shut up. If you had just gone home like you were supposed to, you wouldn’t be here now.”
There was a thud, followed by a pained grunt. It sounded like she kicked the chief. “And now you’ve brought the law in on this. No matter. I can improvise. I’m good at taking bad situations and turning them around. In fact, having the police here will make all of this even better.”
“What are you going to do?” Sarah asked. “Are you going to kill a police officer? Belinda, please, this is just making everything worse. Stop before more people get hurt.”
Belinda was unfazed by my sister’s pleas. “Clare will stab you, Sarah, with the very weapon she used to kill her aunt. It’s a lovely silver letter opener, Clare. You should take better care of your things. The good chief here will catch Clare in the act and try to apprehend her and she’ll shoot him, too, but not before he puts two bullets in her. Everyone dead, nice and easy.”
“I’m confused.” The chief’s voice was a little groggy but he was awake. “You had all this planned out but what about the dog? Why did you take him from Naomi?”
“He’s the key, you see. Violet left everything to him. Everyone will think Clare stole him back so she could claim Violet’s inheritance. It’s all very tidy. Poor little thing. It’s a shame he’ll die in the fire that will inevitably start when the hurricane lamp is knocked over during the scuffle. They’re such dangerous things.”
That was enough. I had to do something or Belinda would kill everyone.
I circled around the hut, my elbow brushing against something. I caught the shovel before it toppled over and gave away my presence.
Which gave me an idea.
I picked it up and approached the door. With the handle, I banged on it. “Um...hello? Chief? Is everything okay in there?”
“Who is that?” Belinda shrieked. She charged out of the door, banging it open violently. Before she could level the shotgun, I brought the shovel down hard, knocking it from her hands.
The force of the blow caused her to stumble out of the house, bringing me face to blurry face with her.
Her lips curled in rage. The chief’s gun was still tucked in the waistband of her jeans.
Everything slowed down and all attention was on that gun. I launched at her, grabbing her hand to keep her from getting it. We tumbled to the ground when Belinda lost her footing. We went down fighting as she landed on top of me.
Clearly, she enjoyed the wares of her shop. I couldn’t breathe when she straddled my stomach. She clawed at my face, going for my eyes. Groping out, I grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked hard to pull her off-balance.
Then her weight was gone and I could sit up. Next to me, Chief Reed had her pinned face down on the ground. In one smooth motion, that would be efficiently sexy in any other context, he had his cuffs out and I heard the ratchet of metal as he bound her.
Officers poured from the woods around us as Chief Reed pulled Belinda to her feet. “Belinda Colby, you are under arrest for the murder of Violet Pickering. Simmons, read Mrs. Colby her rights.”
The officer took her by the arm and led her away. Off in the distance I saw flickering blue and white lights.
Once she was out of sight, I rushed to the hut, pushing the officers out of the way. Sarah rubbed at her wrists and flung herself into my arms when she saw me. She started sobbing.
Through the mayhem, someone was kind enough to guide us back to the road to wait for the paramedics.
Sarah had finally cried herself out and she leaned into me as we sat there. “I was so scared, Nomi.”
“I’m so sorry, Sarah. Clearly she was not in her right mind.”
Sarah sniffled and sat up. “I guess love can do that to someone.”
“I guess.” Luckily, I wasn’t afflicted by that maddening disease.
Chief Reed approached us, carrying the dog carrier that held Winston prisoner.
“Are you taking me to Mary? I want to see Mary, please, if you have time. Oh! Mary! There you are! I was so worried. Mary was there and she was crying and I was trying to save her—”
“I believe this belongs to you.” He sat Winston down next to me.
Winston wiggled and crawled all over me when I finally took him out of that hateful box.
Sarah saw Mom and Dad. She kissed my cheek, then she went to them, leaving me alone with the chief.
He took her spot next to me.
Sitting that close, his body warmth was comforting. I wanted to lean into him and rest my head on his shoulder. Exhaustion was taking hold and my headache was coming back.
In that moment, I believed he could make both of those go away.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just a little shook up.”
He touched lightly at the scratches on my face. “Let the EMTs look at those before you go, okay. That was an incredibly—”
“Stupid?”
The chief laughed. “I was going to say brave but stupid works, too. You saved my life. All of our lives. I believe she would have killed us all in there. Thank you.”
I met his incredibly intense stare. My traitorous stomach was doing backflips. No doubt it was due to the adrenaline. “I couldn’t let that happen.”
“I know.” He smoothed his hand over Winston’s head. “Bring him by the station in a couple of days. I may need to take a statement from him.”
That made me laugh. I cuddled Winston tightly. “I will.”
Just over his shoulder, I saw the blurry outline of my parents. My mom was holding Sarah close, Dad staring over at us, shifting his weight anxiously. “If you don’t need me for anything else...”
“Of course. Good night, Miss Cooper.”
“Good night, Chief Reed.”
Chapter Fifteen
“This sucks,” Sarah said as she poked at her eggs.
It had been a week since Chief Reed arrested Belinda Colby for the murder of Violet Pickering and the attempted murder of Sarah, Clare Dufore, him and Winston. With no immediate family to take over the running of Belinda’s shop, the Hole in One, Sarah was out of a job.
Robbie hadn’t left her side since we got home that early morning. There was speculation that he was going to propose. Speculation in the form of Gramma having talked to him while Mom and Dad had come to pick Sarah up.
If you want to keep a secret, don’t tell Gramma.
Dad had marginal success in getting Robbie to hold off a bit, at least until the trauma wasn’t so fresh and his proposal wouldn’t be misconstrued as pity or fear and not the love that was obvious.
The brain under stress could interpret gestures in funny ways.
Robbie rubbed her back in affection. “You’ll find another job.”
Sarah gave him a look that said he was on her last reserves of patience. “In Harmony Grove? The job opportunities aren’t exactly growing on trees.”
Gramma just made hmmmfph noises from the other side of the table, scribbling on her legal pad.
Winston hadn’t left my side since then, either. We took that damnable dog carrier out in the backyard and took turns beating it with a baseball bat while he cheered us on. Not that I was anti-dog carrier but it was this particular carrier that symbolized our collective trauma. It was an easy scapegoat for working out our anger issues.
Okay, mostly mine.
No one puts Winston in a carrier but me and mine.
The biggest surprise of all came a few days later. Franklin Crook, and I will never get over that name for a lawyer, sent a letter informing us of the reading of Violet’s will.
When we showed up, meaning Winston and I, we were the only ones in the office.
“As you may have surmised, Miss Cooper, Mrs. Pickering named Winston as the beneficiary of her estate.” He signed some paperwork as he talked, shuffling them together before he slid them across from me. “Sign on the lines highlighted please.”
Shifting Winston to my left arm, I picked up the pen, poised to sign and then paused. �
��And what exactly am I signing?”
“It’s complicated but the short version is that you’re now Winston’s guardian and have full control of the estate to administer in his name. She left him very well provided for to live in the luxury that he was accustomed.”
“Wait. What about her grandniece? Clare Dufore? Is she going to contest the will?”
“Mrs. Pickering set up a trust fund for her niece contingent on her agreement that she did not challenge the will.”
Oh.
He leaned across the desk and shoved some of the papers aside and pointed to an accounting sheet. At a figure, he tapped it with his pen. “That’s how much the estate is worth.”
My mouth fell open. Seventeen million dollars, plus several real estate and property holdings all over the state of Mississippi. “That’s...a lot of biscuits.”
“I have been retained, through a separate trust, as legal counsel for the estate. Should you need it.”
“Right.” Lawyers, always getting their percentage. Well...Mr. Crook may yet end up earning his keep.
“Then there is the matter of her primary residence. There is no bank lien on it, and it has been paid in full. The house is now yours.” He set a ring of keys on the desk.
“Did you hear that, Winston? You’re a rich man, now. You’ll have all the bitches at your beck and call.”
“Yay!” Winston said, his body in full-blown tail wag. “What does that mean?”
“It means that we can live in the house where you lived with Violet, if that’s what you want.”
I glanced up to see Mr. Crook looking at me.
“What? Don’t you always talk to your dog?”
“I want to live with Mary. Can Mary have it? That way more Winstons can find their very own Marys?”
Despite the number of Marys in that response, I knew exactly what Winston was saying.
“You say the house is mine, to do with whatever I want?”
“Are you talking to me, or the dog?” Crook asked.
“You.”
“Well, in Winston’s interest of course.”
“Of course. So that means, if I give it as a gift to someone who is a good friend to Winston...”
Bone Is Where the Heart Is Page 14